COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION, AMERICAN. 



183 



931,431, and comprised $1,547,400 in Mint or 

 Assay-Office bars, against $7,522,671 in 1884, 

 $18,875,524 in other bullion, against $6,718,- 

 379, $1,073,150 in trade-dollars, against $225,- 

 500, and $138,477 in other American coin, 

 against $464,881. 



Imports. A further decline in the import 

 trade, in sympathy with the diminished de- 

 mand for American products in Europe, is 

 noted in 1885. An arrest of borrowings in 

 the European money-market, and the cessa- 

 tion of the momentary impulse for railroad 

 construction that started in 1884, account for 

 a part of the decrease, and a continued declen- 

 sion in the average prices explains a part. A 

 diminished consumptive capacity, resulting 

 from the falling off in the national income 

 through sinking prices and contracted trade, 



is revealed in a diminution of the imports of 

 many articles of luxury and consumption, in 

 quantities as well as in values. The decrease 

 due to this cause is not, however, general, nor 

 is the average decrease in quantities very 

 marked. In some raw materials there was a 

 considerable decrease in quantities, but in 

 many kinds there was an increased importa- 

 tion, showing an increased demand in various 

 branches of the textile, metal, and chemical in- 

 dustries, with a net result not varying greatly 

 from that of the previous year. 



The quantities, when given in the reports of 

 the Bureau of Statistics, and the values of the 

 specific articles of merchandise imported into 

 the United States in 1884-'85, compared with 

 the importations of the foregoing year, are ex- 

 hibited in the following table : 



